Purity

Chapter 7: Chances

Silver and green sparkles filled the entire village making it appear as though they were in the heavens. The sun lightly touched every green inch of the enchanted town with its golden fingers, warming the mesmerizing beings that roamed around the magical township.

Lord Elrond was at the head of the group, leading them down a corridor that opened onto a long balcony so that sunlight could stream in. He had been appointing the newly arrived guests to their rooms and now only Aragorn and Levicia were left.

"Step lively," he whispered to Levicia, noticing that she'd slowed her pace to admire the scenery. She snapped her head forward and growled, quickening her stride and crossed her arms as she was now walking next to him.

"Your rooms are opposite each other, Strider you'll be staying here," he smiled lightly at him as he walked into the room then turned a cruel gaze towards Levicia. "You're room is here."

She flashed him a mocking sneer and placed her hands on her hips, shifting her weight, her hand too close to her sword for their liking. Lord Elrond quickly made a motion to the several guards around them, ordering them to lift their bows and pointed them towards her.

Levicia glared at them all, snapping her head to the side to look at them all clearly. Her lips curled into a snarl of disgust and she let out a slow and hushed hiss at them as she narrowed her pale eyes at Elrond.

"What in Moria are you doing?" she demanded of him.

"You'd actually think we'd trust a demon such as yourself? We do not care if you possess the purity ring," he sneered. Levicia narrowed her eyes at him and quickly unsheathed her sword and spun on her heel, slicing each of their readied arrows in half. She swirled around the nearest, unfortunate elf and raised her dagger to his throat.

"I suggest that the next time you decide to attack me, you do so with strategy," she glared at him and pushed the elf to the floor with extreme force. She kept her eyes on them as they walked past her briskly, eyeing her distrustfully and sighed when they'd left, walking towards her room.

"Do not heed to his cruel words," a voice said behind her, stopping her as she started to enter through her doorway. She turned around and looked at the speaker, realizing it was Aragorn. She looked at him quizzically, not sure why he'd suddenly lacked the maliciousness he'd shown towards her before.

"Why do you care?" she asked, raising an eyebrow and crossing her arms.

"Levicia, I know that I've been forbidding and harsh, but I ask your forgiveness for you've been nothing but just towards us, with a hint of sarcasm and smugness," he added jokingly.

"The gash on your arm…" she started.

"Tis nothing, I've faced worse in my time," he reassured her, flashing her a smile. She felt a tug at her lips and realized she was smiling as well. She quickly shook her head and turned her back on him.

"I'll see you at dawn," she said dispassionately and shut the door. Aragorn sighed displeasingly and retired to his room.

Levicia paced around her room, the memories that had swarmed her mind earlier were now all she could think about. No matter how much she tried she couldn't seem to piece them together to form the complete memory.

She knew that they were memories of herself, but what she did not know was if they were true. Scattered images were all they were; scattered important images. If she could recognize anything it was that they would somehow reveal her forgotten past.

Her thoughts suddenly landed on Galandriel, remembering that she had some sort of power to allow someone to view through time. She grinned evilly and stood, walking towards her window to begin her search of the maiden.

The sun was almost set, the sky ablaze with shades of purple, red and yellow, a gorgeous sunset. She hadn't noticed this as she never had an appreciation with nature and didn't care for it; anything that got in her way was obliterated. As she landed from jumping down from her window, she inhaled sharply as a familiar presence entered her.

<Where are you? > the voice boomed.

<In Lorien, > she shut her eyes in concentration, trying to ignore the sudden dizziness that had burst throughout her.

<Lothlorien? > he asked, not sure if he'd heard her right. <Only elves call it Lorien, Levicia. >

<Yes my lord> she shook her head trying to take deep breaths, not knowing why she'd abruptly started calling it Lorien. She leaned against the wall of the palace, trying to support herself as her knees buckled and she fell to the ground with nausea.

The silver ring was glowing eerily, almost as if it were angered with the presence of Sauron. Levicia could feel the band's wrath as she began to feel more ill with every passing moment.

<I am unable to speak with you, my lord, > she said hurriedly.

<Why not? Your soul is troubled, Levicia, > his voice slithered.

<You are causing me pain, leave me, > she pleaded. He felt the agony within her voice and spirit and began to depart from her, the pain and torture commencing to subside.

<Return soon, dark one, > he whispered as his voice carried on the wind, finally exiting her body. She breathed heavily; wiping the sweat from her brow she lifted herself up and realizing that the sun had finally set. She shook off any remaining discomfort and hid in the shadows, her black garments aiding her to be concealed. Making sure that she was rid of all illness she raised her head and looked at the peaking moon.

"I think I'll pay the Lady Galandriel a visit," she smirked, forgetting the disturbing event that had just passed and made her way to the maiden's garden.

Catching a glimpse of white in the corner of her eye, Levicia followed the graceful figure to discover that the beautiful elven maiden had traveled down a flight of steps to a small spring of water.

"I've been expecting you," she spoke angelically.

"Are you Galandriel?" she asked, her voice full of authority.

"That I am," she replied, picking up a vase and filling it with the water from the spring. She suddenly heard the easy gliding of a blade from its scabbard. She didn't need to turn about to know that Levicia had drawn her sword.

"You know what I've come for," she swung her sword in one hand for good testing.

"Do you not already know the answer?" she asked, facing her with the vase in hand.

"If I did would I have come here?" the fiery haired elf replied.

"Answering a question with a question… clever," she smirked and poured the water into the platform that resembled a birdbath.

"Step back," she warned when she'd finished pouring the water.

"You could've killed me already, all you need is to look into the mirror," she loomed.

"True, but what makes you think I won't afterwards," she smirked.

"Why haven't you done so by now, the fearful Levicia I've heard so many dreadful stories about wouldn't have hesitated… not for a second," she said, causing the smirk from her lips for fall.

Levicia glared at the lady of the wood and walked towards the platform. As she looked into the mirror she witnessed as the water swirled until it formed a vision. She squinted her eyes so that she would gain a better perspective of what was happening.

She saw a younger version of herself, a more naïve version. Three others, two males and another female accompanied her, the same three she'd seen in a memory earlier. It was late at night and they were just outside the ballroom of the Mirkwood palace.

Across the room were several bags filled with paint that were hanging about the wall. Levicia and her companions aimed their bows and launched the arrows, bursting the paint bags open.

Sprays of color showered the elegantly dressed guests below earning shouts of disgust and shock from the crowd. The four had been quickly apprehended and punished by the king.

Levicia looked up to see Legolas standing next to his father with an angered look on his face. She smirked and mockingly made a kissing motion with her lips. He frowned and ordered the guard to take them away.

Levicia was unconscious, being carried by her father. Her mother stood next to him, tears flowing down her face as she spoke an incantation that removed her Elven traits from appearance. They left her out in the forest with a few weapons to defend herself.

When she'd awakened, she had wondered wearily into Mordor where she fought her way to Sauron who put her through torture and training. After watching her fighting skills and hatred growing he came to know that she had no memory of her past and was pleased to know he could mold her into the perfect warrior.

Levicia parted her lips and allowed her panting breathes to escape as her eyes widened. She pushed back away from the platform fiercely and glared murderously at Galandriel.

"Tis not true," she hissed, dropping to her knees in aspiration. Galandriel bravely walked gracefully towards her and placed a slender hand upon her shoulder.

"Rise fair one, you need not deny your true self," she whispered. Levicia let out a frustrated yell and jerked her body away from her.

"If I were to be anything other than what I've always known to be, it would certainly not be elven," she breathed and crouched down a few feet away from her.

"You are elven, and nothing else," she said sternly.

"Lies! Tis all lies you speak, treacherous wench!" she growled and grasped the hilt of her sword, ready to attack.

As she pounced at the soon retreating maiden, Levicia felt to beings grasping her arms from behind her and pinning them to her sides. She glanced back while struggling to see that Aragorn and Legolas were the ones to hold her back.

"Calm yourself!" Legolas warned.

"Release me lest I imbed my sword into you as well, you blasted elf!" she grunted and quickly tried to pull away from them, nearly getting away only to have them jerk her back roughly.

Aragorn pressed his arms around her from behind forcibly, pinning her arms to her sides as Legolas spun in front of her and whipped open her cloak, causing her eyes to widen.

"What are you doing?!" She jerked away from him as he reached for the belt around her hips. Before she knew it he had removed all the weapons she had armed.

"Are you all right, me lady?" he then turned to ask Galandriel who nodded calmly. Aragorn pulled a screaming and kicking Levicia away from the scene and back towards the palace.

"What has possessed you to act in such a way?" he asked her, dropping her in a large iron clad room.

"Tis nothing to concern the likes of you!" she snapped and suddenly looked around, realizing she wasn't in her assigned room. "Where are we, Strider?"

"I'm sorry, but we have to keep you here until morning when we return to fetch you," he said and quickly walked out of the room.

Levicia ran towards the door before he closed it only to have the extravagant iron door slam inches from her face. She began to beat on the door, leaving indentures in it.

"Fetched?! I am not an object of which is to be owned and controlled by you people! Open this door immediately, release me from this prison!" she cried out, slamming her fists, knees, elbows, shoulders and hips against the door, trying to break it down. She winced and looked down at her skin to see red spots that would soon turn into bruises.

Levicia allowed herself to drop down on the cold hard floor as she sighed exasperatedly. She narrowed her eyes at the ceiling and tried to comprehend why she'd continued to stay with the newly convened fellowship if she already had the ring. Her heart knew why, but her mind did not; it was because she was afraid, afraid of what would happen if when she returned to Mordor with the ring chained around her neck.

Treachery, she would be accused of treason and be marked as a traitor, and she knew what they did to traitors, she'd been the one to give sentences to them. She watched them being tortured, they're moans of pain and cries of agony were music to her ears as she sinisterly gazed at their suffering faces with pleasure.

Levicia shook her head; there was no guarantee that they'd accuse her of being a conspirator. She looked out the small hole in the wall that was pathetically called a window and saw that the sun was beginning to rise, reminding her that they would come to 'fetch' her at any moment.

Deciding that she wouldn't wait until they arrived and rather would have escaped immediately, she stood in front of the door once again and began to throw her body against it. Finally, she reeled back a few feet before running towards the door and slamming her shoulder into it, sending the door crashing loudly to the door.

She let out a grunt of enragement and pushed herself up from on top of the door, looking up to see Aragorn, Legolas and another Elven woman she'd never seen before standing before her.

"Could you not have waited for us to release you?" Legolas teased.

"Hold your tongue unless you wish to end up as this door," she hissed and rose to her feet.

"We are to see Galandriel, I assume you'll be able to control yourself?" Aragorn raised an eyebrow at her.

"I haven't killed any of you as of yet have I?" she crossed her arms and suddenly realized she hadn't received her weapons.

"We've locked them up, for safe keeping," Arwen answered.

"And who might you be?" she looked at the dark haired elf before her.

"I am Arwen, daughter of Elrond," she smiled kindly, receiving a scoff from Levicia.

"Am I to be impressed?" she uncrossed her arms and glanced back to Legolas. "How much longer are we to wait?"

"You've waited this long, so impatient," he teased only to have a knee connect to his stomach as she walked by.

"You seem to be the one who is so eager for me to give you what you deserve," she said from over her shoulder as she continued to walk away. Arwen chuckled lightly and followed after the irritated female.

"I am fine, tis nothing," Legolas held a hand up when Aragorn offered him a hand as he was crouched over holding his stomach. He shrugged and turned around, both scrambling to catch up with them.

Standing in front of Galandriel, the four looked up at the seemingly glowing maiden. Levicia narrowed her eyes at her as the others conversed with her.

"Now that we have the Purity ring within possession, what is our mission to be now?" Legolas asked.

"Your new mission is to protect the ring and the bearer at all costs," she spoke angelically.

"Forgive me, but I do not need protection, I am perfectly capable of handling anything that attacks me," she crossed her arms haughtily.

"Is that so? Then I suppose you would be able to face against Sauron by yourself?" Galandriel asked.

"What is this you speak of?"

"Look into the mirror," she turned back and faced the platform.

"No, I refuse to look into that pool of lies once more," she snarled and recoiled slightly.

"Tis not lies, it showed me how you came to be on this journey," she gave her a knowing look and glanced quickly at Legolas, causing Levicia's eyes to widen.

"How did you come to know of that?" she asked only to have her switch her gaze to the platform once more.

Levicia meticulously walked up to the platform and placed her hands on either side of it. She looked back to the trio, receiving nods of affirmation. She slowly turned back and sighed, lowering her eyes to look into the clear pool before it swirled into a vision.

She was standing before a tranquil lake, dressed in an elegant blue and white dress, her hair done in the usual elven fashion. She turned around and smiled at the figures behind her. Legolas stood in armor that matched her dress, Aragorn was next to him and Arwen was at his side.

No sound emitted from the apparition, but their expressions were more than enough to sicken Levicia. A dark figure approached them, and she ran to Legolas's side, being sure to stay out of sight as he strung an arrow in his bow to protect her from the villain.

She could easily tell that it was Sauron and she watched devastated as she denied her lord and allowed him to be killed from the energy from her ring that was still about her neck. A single crystalline tear rolled down her face as she looked up at her prince with joy.
Levicia opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out except for a bloodcurdling scream as her eyes widened. She swung her arm down and splashed the water, causing the vision to dissolve. She stepped back away from the platform and looked at Galandriel with hate and rage.

"I would never oppose my lord," she breathed as the ring about her neck began to glow once more. An eerie white energy flowed up and entered her as she inhaled sharply.

"Dear little one, do not deny yourself," she soothed as she watched her drop to her knees, dropping her sword. She clutched her stomach as her back arched with pain.

She could feel the forces of good and evil battling within her mind, raging inside of her as she struggled to maintain what she'd always known to be. She looked up with bloodstained eyes to Galandriel, reaching for her sword.

"This is of your doing, cursed wench!" she growled and charged at her with every intent of slicing her perfect body into thousands of shreds and pieces. The lady of the wood merely outstretched her arm, sending Levicia back and pinning her to the wall with an unseen force.

Legolas and Aragorn immediately spun around to witness Levicia arching her back in pain. Arwen gave Galandriel a questionable look before glancing back to Levicia.

She clenched her teeth and balled her fists as a blinding pain shot through her veins, raking her body. She gasped in excruciation as her breath escaped her along with a black wisp of energy. Her ghostly eyes flashed quickly and brightly before her body dropped to the floor.

"What have you done to me…" she spoke. Her breaths were ragged as she looked up to find puzzled looks on the three lower beings. She switched her gaze up to Galandriel and widened her eyes with fear and shock, running out of the grove when she'd listened to the words that Galandriel spoke.

"You are pure."